RAND Database of Worldwide Terrorism Incidents

The RAND Database of Worldwide Terrorism Incidents is a compilation of data from 1972 through 2009. We are still collecting data, after 2009, however it has not yet been added to the online database.

For 40 years, the RAND Corporation has been at the forefront of terrorism and counter-terrorism studies. In support of this work, RAND has developed and maintained a database of terrorism incidents stretching back to 1972, which is widely regarded as the gold standard for comprehensive information on international and domestic terrorism. Over the years, many public and private sponsors have contributed to the maintenance of the RAND Database of Worldwide Terrorism Incidents (RDWTI) and its predecessors, the RAND Terrorism Chronology and the RAND-MIPT Terrorism Incident Database.

With over 36,000 incidents of terrorism coded and detailed, the quality and completeness of the RDWTI is unparalleled. To maintain the RDWTI, RAND staff conduct extensive research on candidate terrorist attacks, drawing on staff with regional expertise, relevant language skills, and in-country field work experience. The new subscription-based RDWTI, launched in January 2009, is a fully searchable and interactive database, with the intention of providing quality and comprehensive data in the most useful form to the user.

The RAND Database of Worldwide Terrorism Incidents (RDWTI) is now publicly available. We are still in the process of updating our dataset and we plan to have the complete dataset available later this year. We welcome everyone to access our database; however, all public use of the data must be attributed to the RAND Database of Worldwide Terrorism Incidents.